HEALTH bosses across Herefordshire and Worcestershire have agreed to share their specialist stroke consultant workforce.

NHS Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group says it is working on potential models to deal with staffing shortages.

There is currently a national shortage of stroke consultants and health commissioners say this has been a significant factor in constraining the delivery of a seven-day service for the two counties.

The new regional medical director of NHS Improvement Nigel Sturrock chaired a meeting in April following the resignation and retirement of consultants at Wye Valley NHS Trust in Hereford.

The quality summit aimed to address the immediate service sustainability and a proposal was agreed that provided a joint workforce approach for consultants across Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and Wye Valley NHS Trust.

This would be supported by the implementation of remote diagnosis and treatment of patients using new technology to maintain safety of services across the two counties.

Health bosses say this would be an interim solution while recruitment planning continues, and a long term plan can be agreed.

Local CCG accountable officer Simon Trickett said: “We’ve talked before about the long-term strategy for stroke and a single service.

“Focus has really shifted in the last three months to the here and now.

“We have two stroke consultants at Wye Valley. One is planning to retire imminently, and one has accepted a job somewhere else.

“We are currently potentially without stroke consulting resource.

“There are emergency arrangements in place. Locums are working there now which is great.

“But what it has done is accelerated that partnership collaboration with colleagues from Worcestershire Acute Trust.

“There is quite a strong partnership that is building.

“While this has been a long running programme. Some of the workforce changes are really bringing it to the fore and making it essential to be resolved now.

“It’s forcing the issue and making the services work together.”

Dr Ian Tait, CCG chairman, said the focus is shifting towards more collaborative working.

“The very positive side to this is the two providers covering Herefordshire and Worcestershire are working together on this solution and that hasn’t been the traditional approach on this,” he said.

“What we are seeing now across the wider system is that when there are specialist skills that are scarce it is very important to design systems which value those specialist skills in the point of the care pathway where they can add maximum value.

“That’s where the telemedicine will come in.”